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Chapter 18: Ten Great Blues Guitars
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As the first commercially available electric solidbody, it is now the longest
surviving electric guitar of its kind, pre-dating the Les Paul by two years and
the Stratocaster by four years. It features two widely spaced single-coil pickups
versus the Strat’s three. The Telecaster is known for being “twangier”
than the Strat, and many blues players use this edge to good advantage,
notably Muddy Waters, Albert Collins, and blues-rock idol Keith Richards.
Gibson Les Paul
Right behind the Stratocaster and the Gibson ES-335, 345, and 355 semi-hollow
guitars in popularity for electric blues players is the solidbody Gibson Les
Paul. Many legendary blues-rock artists have played Les Pauls, including
Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Duane Allman, Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page,
and Aerosmith’s Joe Perry. The more traditional players who at one time
or another donned a Les Paul include Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin and
Jody Williams from Howlin’ Wolf’s band, Freddie King, and Buddy Guy (who
switched to the Strat after his Les Paul was stolen from a club). Guitar Slim is
pictured in a famous publicity shot holding a gold-top Les Paul.
Fender Stratocaster
Deemed the most popular guitar in history, the Fender Stratocaster is revered
by players of all genres, including electric blues — both traditional and modern.
Buddy Guy plays one. Jimi Hendrix’s famous white Strat (a right-handed version,
but restrung, so it played normally) is the single guitar that’s most associated
with his style. Clapton had his famous “Blackie,” made of various
cannibalized parts, and Stevie Ray Vaughan played one with ungodly heavy
strings (a .013 on the high E) — see Chapter 16 for more information on strings.
Fender created the Stevie Ray Vaughan artist model based on Vaughan’s favorite
axe (guitar), which features a rosewood fingerboard, inverted left-handed
vibrato system, sunburst finish, and etched “SRV” initials on the pickguard.
Gibson ES-335
The ES-335 was created in 1958 as an attempt to combine the resonant properties
of a hollowbody with the sustain of a solidbody. The body was made
thin so that it wouldn’t feed back, and a stop tailpiece (where the bridge
affixes to studs midway down the body, instead of attaching to a trapeze,
which hangs off the edge) was anchored into a solid maple block that ran
down the center of the body.
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